Smile Because It Happened
by 13Zander13
Summary: Everyone knows that James Potter is completely infatuated with Lily Evans... but what if 6th year the other boys push him to see someone else. Someone completely different than the red head. Can James really just push his feelings from Lily aside though or will they resurface from time to time? Can Rory handle being with someone who's in love with her best friend?
1. Chapter 1

_I've been wanting to write a new fanfiction for a while now and so here we are! This idea popped into my head a while ago and so I figured why not go with it. So I finally started writing it. I do have a lot planned for this but I do have a few warnings._

_My OC is not going to be replacing Lily Evans. Lily is still in the story and I refuse to spoil the end but keep that in mind ;)_

_And I do not own Harry Potter in any way. I just own Rory Werner ;) my OC_

_I don't know how far I'm going to get with this but we'll see XD_

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**"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."**

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Chapter 1

"Hey... Rory?"

I looked up from my book with a sigh. James Potter was standing above me looking more nervous than not. I was trying to finish this book and we were finally getting to the good part... and I knew that with James here I wouldn't get anything done.

Honestly though I was just questioning why he was talking to me in the first place. James had always chased after my best friend Lily and almost never acknowledged my existence. I mean we said hi every once in a while but it wasn't like we made small chat with each other. He was just too focused on Lily...

"What do you need Potter?" I sighed and closed my book- taking note of the page that I was reading. He grinned at me and took the seat, taking this as a sign for him to sit down.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with of me tomorrow."

I'm sorry what? My mouth fell open at this. He had to be kidding right? At my disbelief James grew pink in the face and he ran a hand through his hair, an action that he did constantly as if habit. Embarrassed by this whole thing, I felt my face slowly grow red as well.

"What about Lily though? I mean you like her don't-"

"I need a break." He cut me off and my mouth shut as I thought about this.

James Potter was actually a decent guy despite what Lily said. I mean sure he was a bit overwhelmingly head over heals infatuated with her but... He was pretty fit. Lily was lucky that he was the guy who was chasing her and not someone like... Someone like Pettigrew.

But why the sudden change? I wasn't anything like Lily honestly and so I really was confused as to why Potter chose me out of all the girls in the school. Was it because I was friends with Lily? But he did say that he needed a break...

I was about to say no, knowing that Lily would be furious if I agreed to go out with one of the marauders when I looked up into his pleading hazel eyes. Knowing that I couldn't say no... I gave him a nod, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose with a slight smile.  
"Fine... Do we have a plan or... what do we want to do?" I asked shifting awkwardly and his grin grew, expression lighting up.

"I was thinking that we could go to Honeydukes then maybe the Three Broomsticks and wander around the town a bit. Remus is sick, Sirius is on a date, and Peter has tutoring and so I figured I needed someone to hang out with."

"So I'm your last choice?" I asked, crossing my arm across my chest amused.

"Meet me in the Great Hall at 10 Werner." Potter laughed and climbed to his feet with. Giving me a wink he then left up to the boy's dormitory. I stared after him confused before shaking my head.

I wasn't sure how I felt about going to Hogsmeade with James but I honestly believed that it would be interesting day tomorrow. Maybe not better than sitting inside and reading my book... but more interesting for sure.

With a slight smile I opened my book back up. I of course had dated before, but being friends with the infamous Lily Evans meant that she overshadowed me more often than not. So it was exciting that I finally had gotten someone decent.

"Where you just talking to Potter?" Lily stared down at me with a raised eyebrow, her voice full of disdain as she spat his name and I couldn't help but to roll my eyes. You would think that since we were finally in our 6th year that she'd get over this hatred for him but apparently not. The loathing that she had for him wasn't going to go away from the looks of it.

"Does it matter?" I asked with a smirk and she just rolled her eyes and collapsed onto the chair next to me.

"You're so sassy these days." She snorted pulling a lock of my hair. Rolling my eyes at this I took a deep breath then looked around the common room. It was almost empty, a few 5th years like Lily and I sitting around studying in there own little corners.

Checking the watch on my wrist it took me a minute to realize that it was already 11 pm... How did Potter expect me to be ready by 10 in the morning!? Usually I left around noon... And considering the fact that I had half a book to finish... I would be waking up at 10 on a good day. 10:50 on a great one.

"Are you ready for your date tomorrow?" I nudged her shoulder and the red head couldn't stop the grin that had formed on her face.

Max Peters had asked Lily out a week ago and they were finally going to go out. He was a decently fit 7th year Ravenclaw who had held Lily's interest since the beginning of the year. Usually Lily, Marlene (one of our friends), Alice, and I would all hang out for our first Hogsmeade trip during the year but this time... this time everyone had a date. Including me for once. And honestly it felt great.

"I seriously can't believe that he had asked me." She gushed. "Are you sure that you'll be fine here alone...? I mean we could always meet at the Three Broomsticks or something if you'd like."

I bit my lip nervously. I had been hoping to procrastinate telling her that I was going to Hogsmeade with James but- she probably would have been even angrier if I didn't say anything... and I couldn't just lie to my best friend.

"I'm going with Potter." I said extremely rushed keeping my eyes trained on my page.

Silence...

Lily bursting into laughter almost caused me to fall off of the seat as it was extremely loud and scared the shit out of me.

"Haha- I'm sorry WHAT?! That's a joke right?" She laughed and everyone's eyes were on us. Of course there were only a handful of people in the room but I went completely red. "You cannot be going to Hogsmeade with Potter- The prat who's in love with ME right?!"

I couldn't help but to smile a bit at her reaction and just gave her a shrug when she looked back at me. Lily ran a hand through her hair in disbelief and just shook her head at that amused.

"This... You should really work on saying no Ror." Lily clucked then got to her feet. "I'm going to head up but make sure that you get some sleep tonight."

She ruffled my hair then headed up. My gaze followed my red haired friend and I then looked around again to see that everyone was slowly turning back to their work but they were also glancing at me from time to time. Looking back down I questioned myself.

I knew that Lily really didn't approve of any of the Marauders especially James but... was she just faking being okay with it for me?

I honestly didn't want to push her too far... Merlin what was I getting myself into?


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to the favorite and follow :) The chapters will be getting longer as the story progresses I believe so please don't hate me for the lengths of these chapters!**

**I only own my OC's!**

**Please review!**

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**Chapter 2**

"-we can always tag behind you if you want to. I mean we don't know what the Marauders are up to but I don't want you getting hurt and I'm sure that Riley won't mind all that much-" I stared at Lily as she rambled.

Rolling my eyes at the girl I looked back into the mirror double checking my appearance. My thick black hair was pulled on to the top of my head in a loose bun that I knew would fall out sooner or later and my bangs brushed just below my eyebrows. Large brown eyes that were framed with thick lashes and eyeliner peered through my glasses that were rectangular and had thick frames. Lily called them nerd glasses and though I knew that it was true, they were perfect for me.

I was shorter than Lily but my curviness made up for it. Though it was frustrating that I wasn't what you called skinny, I was glad that I had something.

"Lily just let her be." Alice pushed the red head and stood by my side looking into the full length mirror with me. "Anyways you should just be glad- it seems like Potter is finally getting over you."

Alice puckered her lips at herself then winked at me. I rolled my eyes at this and turned back to Lily who was looking at me worriedly.

"I'm just worried that he's just taking advantage of you Rory." Lily sighed and I gave her a smile and a shrug.

"I'm not going to let him hurt me." I promised and we stared at each other for a moment before she nodded.

I turned back towards the wardrobe and sighed.

"Now you're going to have to help me get dressed."

An hour later I found myself rushing into the Great Hall, late once again because one of the trick steps in the castle. You would think that after so long I would have been better at avoiding them but somehow they managed to get me almost every time.

"Oi Werner!" an arm caught my own and I almost completely fell as I was pulled to a stop. Instead I just stumbled into who ever caught me's chest. "You really should pay more attention."

I looked up to see that James was smirking down at me, his glasses about ready to fall off the bridge of his nose. Grinning sheepishly I pried myself out of his grip and straightened up.

"Sorry... I kind of spaced." I said breathlessly and he laughed shaking his head.

"That's alright. You ready to go?"

People were staring at us as we started to trek our way to the village. The sun was shinning though the wind was starting to pick up, It was nice to get outside for once. While constantly trying to keep up with grades and dealing with heartbreak from my novels, it was almost hard to appreciate what was going on around.

"Why do you read so many books?" I looked over at James who was looking down at me curiously.

"I'm sorry?" I questioned burying my hands deep into my pockets. He gave a partial shrug to me and a lop sided grin.

"I just don't really see that many people read as avidly as you do... Even Moony reads more than you do." He laughed and I rolled my eyes at this.

"It's because it's what I do." I smiled and shivered slightly as a gust of wind took me off guard. Seeing my discomfort James unwrapped the red and gold scarf that was hanging around his neck and offered it to me.

"Here. I don't need it." He said and I just shook my head.

"I don't want you to get cold though." I gave him a partial smile and he rolled his eyes at that. Before I could protest he wrapped the cloth around my neck a few times. I couldn't help but to be embarrassed at the fact that it smelled good. It was weird to think but his scarf really did smell good.

I looked down at my shoes and then back up at the raven haired boy who was bobbing his head slightly as if he were listening to music. I figured that I should clear the air now rather than later. Just so that I wouldn't waste my whole day with someone who wasn't interested.

"So... uh James? Is this... What is this?" He turned towards me and I couldn't stop the blush that rose to my face. Seeing his confusion I decided to go more into it. "I mean we don't really know each other and you've been in love with my best friend for the past 5 years now and I just- is this you getting to Lily in another way?"

I rushed the last part hoping that he wouldn't actually register what I had said. From the fact that his expression fell to one that was hard to read, I could tell that I hadn't said it fast enough.

"The-I've decided that I needed a change. Just to see what it was like going out with someone else. And you're the most tolerable out of the girls in Gryffindor besides Evans so I thought...why not." There was a nervous edge to his explanation but I just shrugged it off and nodded at the boy. I could respect that.

"Marleen isn't that bad..." I muttered and he just rose an eyebrow at this. I couldn't help but to snort at this and smile. I loved Marleen to death- she was a great friend but honestly... she always seemed to have a different boy with her and the fact that appearances mattered so much to her was kind of irritating. I didn't say anything of course.

"Anyways- what's your favorite candy Werner?"

We played the 20 questions game as we made our way down the path to the village and I was surprised to find that actually was enjoying the company of James. He wasn't as immature and arrogant as he seemed. Of course there was the fact that he bullied Slytherins a lot but other than that... I couldn't figure out as to why Lily refused to date him.

"Do you want to go into Honeydukes?" I jumped as James spoke into my ear as we entered the village. My foot caught on the edge of nothing and I found myself pitching towards the ground with a curse.

I braced myself for the impact but... it never came. Blinking my eyes open it took me a moment to realize that James had one of his arms wrapped around my waist. Somehow he had caught me.

"You know you really are lucky that I have really good reflexes because you seem to be a huge klutz." He murmured and I felt my face growing red once again.

In one smooth motion James straightened me up though he refused to take his arm off from around me. Instead of questioning it I kept my mouth shut.

"So Honeydukes?" I asked tightening the scarf around my neck and he nodded with a large grin.

By the time the two of us left Honeydukes we found ourselves carrying two bags each full of candy. While he had insisted on buying me all of his favorite candies I ended up buying all of my candies for him and it was honestly just a recipe for disaster.

"I can't believe that we spent that much on candy." I breathed, not able to keep the large grin off of my face.

James nudged me in the side with a grin that matched my own. "I can't believe that you bought that much! Honestly don't most girls care about what they eat?"

That probably wasn't the best thing that he could have said but instead of getting offended by it I just shrugged the comment off. "I don't happen to be like most girls."

"That's why you interest me... Do you want to go get lunch now?"

We made our way to the Three Broomsticks and I wasn't surprised that it was so extremely crowded. I wouldn't have expected anything less.

"Prongs-Prongs! Ov'r here!" James' head snapped up as he was called his ridiculous nickname and we both looked to see that Sirius Black was gesturing over towards us from one of the tables, his arm wrapped around some sleazy looking girl.

"Come on." James slung his arm over my shoulders and pushed our way through the crowd to the table.

"We're going to go 'hang out' but you two have a good time alright?" Sirius winked at James before leading out the girl who was clinging onto him like there was no tomorrow. I stared after them a bit baffled then turned to James who was already sitting.

"Is it fair that Sirius gave us his table? I mean there are so many people who look like they've been waiting for a while..." I bit my lip as I hesitantly took the seat across from the marauder.

He peered at me form his glasses amused though he didn't say anything to me- waving down Rosmerta and ordering us two butterbeers. After letting out a sigh and taking off his jacket he finally turned back towards me.

"It's one of the perks of being popular love. Anyways you're too nice and kindness will only get you so far in the world."

I stared at the raven haired boy across from me. With his smirk and hazel eyes boring into my own... I knew that things would only get more interesting from here. Part of me was dreading it but honestly- maybe James Potter was the spark in my life that I needed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who's followed and favorited this story! I wasn't sure about how this'll go because all of the Jily shippers out there XD**

**I own nothing**

**REviEW?**

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**Chapter 3**

"So he wasn't... a complete prick?"

I huffed slightly as Lily asked me the question for the billionth time. It was monday and I honestly wasn't ready for school. None of my transfiguration homework was done and I only had half of my potions essay done. There was no excuse for why it wasn't done... well besides the fact that I was feeling lazy.

We were in History of Magic and while Professor Bins was ranting about some war the whole class was pretty much asleep, giving Lily and I time to talk- unfortunately enough.

"If he was I wouldn't be studying with him after dinner today." I sighed and Lily's head snapped up at this.

"You're what?!" Almost everyone looked at this as Lily shrieked and this caused me to wince. I pushed her in the arm and after a moment everyone turned back to their own conversations. Everyone but the Marauders.

James was looking at me at me with a slight smirk on his face while Remus... Remus Lupin looked confused and there were a few other emotions that I couldn't read so after a moment, I looked away.

"Can you be a bit quieter." I hissed and Lily couldn't mask the disgust that covered her face.

"You can't be hanging out with him again! He's probably just using you to get me." Lily hissed and I couldn't help but to recoil from the red head.

I love Lily. I seriously did but this was getting ridiculous. She kept on saying this over and over and didn't seem to believe that Potter could change. It was just getting on my nerves...

"Lily he could like me too you know..."

"Do you really think that he's going to change though Rory? Five straight years with that prat chasing after me and out of the blue he asks you out? Come on."

It wasn't often that I got angry. Usually I prided myself in being the calm and most level headed one in the group but I couldn't help the frustration that was building up inside of me.

"You don't even listen to what I have to say about any of this..."

The girl just crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. I looked over at Alice and Marlene who were watching our exchange intently. Alice gave me a small smile and a small shrug. She knew that there was nothing that I could do otherwise...

I sighed and leaned my head down onto the desk, ignoring the girl who was now fully intent on ignoring me. The frustration in me wanted me to yell at Lily, say that this wasn't all about and it scared me.

What just fueled it even more was when the bell finally rang, Lily got to her feet and bolted out of the room, not even bothering to say anything to me.

"She's just being irrational right now." Alice looped her arm around my own and Marlene stood on my other side. I bit my lip and nodded, staring off after my red haired friend.

"Lily will get over it in time... And hey- at least you have your off next." Marlene ruffled my hair and I couldn't help but to pout. I hated having people mad at me...

"Hey Rory- would you like to join me in the library?" I looked back to see Remus Lupin staring down at me. I glanced back at Marleen and Alice were leaving the room and I sighed nodding.

I had nothing against Remus Lupin- I really didn't but the boy just confused me. And the fact that he wanted to talk to me made me worry even more that James was up to something. Remus and I rarely talked...

The two of us walked in silence, the only two in our friend groups that had this period off. Usually I would go into the kitchens and just hang out for a bit but this... this was going to be different.

"Rory... I need to tell you-" I cut him off not wanting to hear the rest of it.

"Is James really just using me for Lily?"

Remus, being one of the marauders, would know the answer to this out of everyone... and though I almost didn't want to know- I knew that I needed the answer to this. Lily being right was pretty much the last thing that I wanted right now.

The marauder remained silent causing me to glance up at him. He honestly looked like he was struggling for words and I couldn't help but to groan.

"He is isn't he?"

"Look...You're a good person Rory and I don't want to see you getting hurt." We both stopped just outside the library so that we could talk. "Sirius and I have been pressuring James for years to look for someone else and he's finally listened... I don't believe that he's completely over Lily but I do think that he does like you."

I ran a hand through my hair, unsure as to how I was supposed to interpret this. Was this a good thing... or a bad thing? Honestly why couldn't I just read mindS?

"If it makes any of this better, he did ask you on a second date as himself... We had nothing to do with that."

"Uh... thanks?"

The day seemed to pass by quickly and I found myself hanging out in the commons, waiting for James to meet me.

Lily hadn't talked to me since our argument and had been pointedly ignoring me and I were to be honest... It kind of hurt. I expected something like this would happen but I honestly thought that she would be happy that he no longer was completely after her.

"You alright there Werner?" I almost fell out of my chair as James approached me from behind. His bag thumped on the table almost knocking over my pile of books. The raven haired marauder collapsed into the chair next to me.

"Just thinking." I smiled softly and looked at the book that was sitting in my lap.

There was a moment of silence before James cleared his throat. Looking up I saw that he was glancing at me sheepishly.

"Could you help me with the Herbology... I can't seem to get some of the..." He trailed off awkwardly and I looked to see that he had a half assed sketch on his paper, I couldn't help but to raise my eyebrow at this.

"I thought all of you marauders were genius' in every class." I teased and he just rolled his eyes at this.

"We usually help each other out but Remus is refusing... and I remember you saying that Herbology was one of your favorite classes so do you think that-" I cut off his rambling by pulling the papers away from him so that I could get a clearer look.

We spent almost two hours working on homework and talking. Mostly talking though. While I helped him with his Herbology sketches he ended up helping me out with the extra load of Transfiguration homework that McGonagall had assigned me.

"You're family sounds nuts." James chuckled as we made our way out of the library. Curfew was in half an hour and neither of us were too keen on getting assigned detention. I had just finished telling him one of the more embarrassing parenting moments that my mum had.

"They really are." I smiled and I glanced over at James who had half of the books that I had checked out in his arms. It was actually a very sweet gesture coming from him.

We continued making small talk as we made our way up through the maze of stairs to the common room. It was lighthearted and made me feel... content.

"Hey James... What are we?" The question escaped my mouth before I could stop it and I felt heat starting to crawl up my neck. The boy looked down at me a bit amused and gave a shrug.

"I was thinking that we could be... more than friends?" He seemed a bit hesitant about this request and I stared at him for a moment, trying to figure him out. After sighing I nodded with a small smile on my face.

"Yeah... yeah we can do that." I murmured.

"What are you two doing?" An angry voice cut through the silence and I dropped my books in surprise. There stood, red faced and seething, my enraged best friend...


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm sorry that this chapter isn't completely long... I just wrote it all (I'm in my finance class) and wanted to post it before class was over...**

**So here you go. Sorry about it being kind of boring as well. I wanted a bit of inner monologue to connect more with Rory AND I wanted some Marauder interaction. I have a lot of the story planned out (well about half) so the chapters should be picking up soon :)**

**I only own Rory**

**REview?**

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Chapter 4

Lily, despite being prefect and very high up on the food chain, could be extremely immature. She completely ignored the fact James and I were dating. In fact she was completely ignoring me in general.

Alice and Marlene weren't sure what to do so I encouraged them to talk to the red head. I had James to hang out with- she didn't.

After Lily had found James and I in the hallway we got in a row- well James and Lily did. Lily was just screaming about how James was using me and all this other junk while James was yelling at her for being so self centered and things like that. I wasn't happy with either of them though when Lily turned on me- that was when I got angry.

She started saying that I was too stupid to realize what was going on and just stupid for not realizing it. That among other things that was. Even with that though I kept quiet. She kept on saying these things and I kept my mouth shut. It was difficult but...it helped.

It wasn't long before the Fat Lady joined in telling everyone to shut up and it wasn't long before we caught the attention of more and more people. After what seemed like ages though probably was only a few minutes, everyone stopped. Alice and Marlene dragged Lily away and the marauders got James thus leaving me to the crowd.

It quickly dispersed and I found myself in the common room… alone. Honestly I was hurt by everything that was said but I refused to let myself cry. I had told myself over and over again that it was bound to happen and… it worked.

Later that night James stumbled down the boys' stairs looking disheveled and tired. It took him a minute to notice me but he came up and apologized… Said that if I were still willing he would be… We ended up staying in the common room till about 1 in the morning and when I started to drift off- He insisted that I go upstairs. We had class in the morning and though I felt bad for drifting on him… I had to agree.

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"You're sitting with us during lunch today?" James asked as I came down the common room the next morning. I nodded at the boy with a grin and looked at the other three marauders behind him who looked tired but ready for the day.

"Yeah of course." James grinned at this, flashing me his pearly whites before wrapping an arm around my waist. I jumped a bit at the contact but slowly relaxed into his grip. I guess this wouldn't be too bad.

"Did Evans ever apologize to you this morn?" Sirius walked on my other side while we made our way through the hall, Remus and Peter lagging behind. I looked up at the boy and shook my head, keeping my mouth shut.

Sirius Black had always intimidated me. With his extremely attractive attitude and how he always carried himself in such an arrogant manner he seemed like a big person. He always seemed to get what he wanted and that just made it so much worse. He made me feel so small even though he's probably only talked to me twice if even.

"I… uh yes?" He was about to respond when I realized what he actually had asked me. "No! No she hasn't. But that's her own choice and when she's ready… I'll be there for her."

I pushed my glasses up my nose at this and Sirius stared at me for a moment. I couldn't stop the blush that was forming on my face and looked over at James who was watching our exchange with a slight smirk on his face. I wasn't exactly sure as to why I was blushing but I was.

"You shouldn't forgive her what she said." Sirius stated shoving his hands in his pockets. I gave him a shrug and a half smile.

"She was just trying to help though…" We all knew that she wasn't though.

"She was being a prat and you should stand up for yourself." Sirius sighed and none of us said anything else while we made our way into the Great Hall.

There was a ton of chatter, a lot of the people not having seen James and I yet. I tried to tune it out as we sat down but it was nearly impossible to do so. They were questioning who I was, asking why I was with James Potter of all people, one of the better questions was if I was their community whore.

It was weird just getting so much of this attention and honestly… I wasn't sure as to how I felt about it.

All my life I would hide behind my glasses, keep my head down and just read. I wasn't the type of person who would start arguments or fight back… I wasn't the type of person who would do big things to get attention and I seriously believed that I was put in the wrong house. Almost all of the Gryffindor's had huge personalities while I didn't… I honestly believed that I was supposed to be a Hufflepuff for the first few months of my schooling here.

"Just ignore them love, the whispers will die down eventually." James whispered into my ear and I nodded gratefully. We sat down side by side with the rest of the Marauders across from us.

"We have potions first…" Peter groaned while looking down at his schedule. I sighed as well and watched as the rest of the group started to make small chat.

Despite being extremely popular and held up on a high pedestal… these guys weren't that different. Of course they were so bloody weird but they weren't that different than the others here.

"Rory… I don't know.. this is kind of weird but you might want to move your arm soon..." Remus shook me out of my thoughts and I looked down to see that my sleeve was now completely covered in eggs. I shuddered at this and was about to pull it out when Sirius and James burst out laughing.

Glancing at the two it took me a minute to realize what was going on. The plate of eggs wasn't even close to me. In fact, the plate was right in between James and Sirius. Even if the plate had been underneath my arm, the eggs wouldn't have been covering the top part of my arm. They both had a large spoon in hand and it was easy to connect the dots.

"You buried my hand in… eggs?" I couldn't hide the disbelief and I carefully removed my arm from the pile. This just caused to laugh even harder and even Remus started to chuckle.

"I'm just surprised that it took you that long to notice." James laughed and then wrapped one of his arms around my shoulder. With a quick flick of the wand, the stench and the remains of the egg had disappeared.

With a laugh I leaned up against the Marauder- amused by the ridiculousness of this whole situation. Honestly though… who the hell covers someone's arm in eggs when they're not looking? That was just so bloody weird.

"Prongs… I've decided that we approve." Sirius announced in a large voice and we all stared at him confused. Rolling his eyes at this he made a gesture between James and I. "Of you two that is. I wasn't sure at first but she's much better than Evans. This one can actually take a joke. That being said… Rory welcome to the group. Don't fuck it up."

I sincerely hoped that I wouldn't.


	5. Chapter 5

**I should really focus in Finance... but obviously I cannot ;) so that being said another chapter for you guys! Hope you don't hate it ;)**

**REview?!**

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**Chapter 5**

"No no no no no… Oh come on!" I yanked on my leg trying to get out of the damned trick step. Every bloody time… Seriously though no matter what I tried I couldn't remember what step it was and though I said it before, you would think that after 5 and now almost a ¼ years I would have learned which one it was… or that it wouldn't get me every time. Almost everyone knew BUT me.

I glanced at my watch and groaned, it was 8:40. Ten minutes and McGonagall was going to kill me. She'd probably actually turn me into a watch and then kill me knowing her. I wouldn't have been late if it weren't for the Marauders. We all had ended staying up late just hanging out and talking and finally we went to bed around 3 in the morning. James and I did that is. The others went to bed around 1 leaving James and I to chat for a few hours. I liked my sleep a lot and seeing as this had happened before- it didn't seem like I would be getting much with James as my boyfriend.

And that's not...Okay that sounded wrong but it wasn't meant to be. I swear.

Seeing that everyone was in class, I probably wouldn't be getting help with this any time soon. Sighing I sat down on the step, only struggling a little with my leg being stuck.

About half an hour later someone finally walked by. My butt had gone numb from sitting the whole time and I had a book sitting on my lap. I had finished all of my homework and though I knew that I should have been studying for transfiguration… I just couldn't. My brain didn't want me to.

"Rory what are you doing?" I looked up to see Lily Evans standing over me, a slight scowl on her face. I raised an eyebrow at the girl and put my book away, standing up the best that I could.

Her eyes darted down to my leg which had now sunk into the step about mid calf and I saw a smile start to play on her lips. It quickly disappeared as she remembered what was going on between us.

"I suppose that's why you aren't in class then." Lily gave a forced laugh and I nodded, keeping my mouth shut. The girl shifted on her feet a bit and I sighed, shoving my hands into my pocket.

"And why aren't you there?"

"McGonagall needed me to deliver a note to Flitwick for her. I had finished the class work so.." She trailed off a bit and we both went silent.

God this was awkward…

"He's not a bad guy Lily." I whispered keeping my eyes down so that I wouldn't have to look at her. She huffed a bit and I heard her shift.

"He bullied Snape and kids for years AND he had been so wound up with me. I doubt that that's going to change just because of you." She scoffed and I felt the anger bubble up again. Why couldn't she just listen to anything that I had to say?

"If you don't recall Snape had called you a.. you know what and he hasn't been bullying kids at all since the BEGINNING of the year so no- I'm not changing him." Lily looked like she was about to cut in but I was on a roll. "And as for him liking you- you need to get over yourself. He likes me now and we're dating. I know that you have troubles with realizing that he's not chasing you anymore but I'm finally getting a chance and I expected you to be happy for me. I haven't done anything besides date the guy that I like for once and all i've been getting is backlash and I'm sick of it!"

Though I hadn't been yelling, there was so much force in my tone that I might as well have been. I was breathing heavily and though I felt good about finally getting that off of my chest… there was guilt.

I never shouted at people, I never lectured. I had always tried to stay as calm as possible but I had lost it. Lily had a look of shock and… almost hurt in her eyes as we stared at each other. I averted my eyes, unable to look at the expression on her face.

What had I done..?

"I'm… Rory?" A wave of exhaustion hit me and I rubbed my forehead. Everything ached and I was honestly just tired of all this drama.

"Can you please get me out of this?" I asked and she nodded.

I arrived to class an hour late. Each period was an hour so I had ended up missing half of the class. Lily was by my side but when we entered the classroom, she slipped away to talk to Alice and Marlene who were glancing at me curiously.

In fact most of the class was looking at me curiously. But honestly I didn't really care. I walked up to McGonagall who was staring at me with a raised eyebrow and pursed lips.

"You're late again Miss Werner." She stated and I almost wanted to roll my eyes at her but I just gave a small nod.

"I got stuck in the trick step again…" The professor looked at me over her glasses and sighed.

"You would think that now you're in your sixth year, you would know better… but apparently not. Detention tonight. Be in the room by 8."

I shoved my hands in my pockets and nodded, turning back I saw that the Marauders were all waving me over, large grins on their faces. For a moment I thought about not joining them- just sitting in the back of the class by myself… but I didn't.

"You alright there love?" James asked wrapping his arm around my shoulder and I gave a small eyes, glancing over at Lily who was talking to Alice and Marlene, both having a look of shock on their faces. Marlene looked back at me with a frown and I just looked away from her questioning look.

I just wasn't in the mood…

"So what are we doing?" I grinned up at the boys and none of them said anything for a moment, shocked my by sudden mood change. I pulled my wand out and looked around at everyone and grinned widely.

Human transfiguration. Ooh this was going to be fun.

"Are you sure you're okay love?" James whispered into my ear as the three other boys turned back to their work.

"Yeah… I just got in a row with Lily… I can tell you about it tonight- after my detention." I muttered and looked at the open textbook that James had sitting on his desk. Repeating the spell and theory into my head a little bit, I turned back to James who was still staring at me.

"Shouldn't you be working?"

The Marauder looked a bit surprised at my snark but grinned and gave a lazy flick of his wand. I felt a tingling sensation on my head and I raised my hands to find an… what was that?

"Are these rabbit ears?" I breathed feeling the fur and the length of the two things atop my head and James started laughing. With an eyeroll I pointed my wand at him and kept a clear picture in my mind of what I wanted to happen.

Saying the spell and repeating the wand movements, a stump grew at the top of his head. Only an inch or two large I couldn't help but to pout. Concentrating once more I waved my wand this time with much more force, trying to give James a large rhino like stump.

BANG!

Shrieks filled the room as I was suddenly blasted back from James. I smashed into another person who luckily stopped me from falling and the whole room went silent. We were all staring at James…

James Potter whose skin was now a rough grey and who had such a large tusk in his head that it looked difficult for him to hold up. I heard a chuckle and looked back to see that Sirius was trying to hold in his laughter, his arms dropping so that he could cover his mouth. That was to no avail though. He burst out into a loud bark like laugh and a moment after he started laughing… everyone else joined in as well.

Poor James struggled to his feet, a hand supporting his newly grown tusk. McGonagall surveyed the mess for a moment before getting the classes attention once again.

"Alright Miss Werner I expect a 3 page essay on what you did wrong with that and I want it by next class… Until then will you take Mr Potter to the Hospital Wing? I believe that Poppy will love to see this."

I nodded and grabbed both my and James' things before following him out of the room. The moment we were out he punched me lightly in the arm with his free hand.

"If they can't fix this you better expect revenge." James chucked and I looked up at the odd boy and nodded, trying not to start laughing once again. I couldn't believe that that had actually happened…

A few passing people stared at us as we made our way to the Hospital wing but neither of us cared. With my rabbit ears and his… rhinoess- there was no room for us to give a damn.


	6. Chapter 6

_Just another chapter. I know that it's not my best and I struggled coming up with it but... here we are :) the next few chapters will be easier I hope. I think that I'll put a timeline (like I'll update every Thursday or something) so that it's easier for you guys and myself XD  
_

_Sorry for the delay!_

* * *

_**Five More Disappearances**_

_**Death Eaters on the Rise!**_

_**Who's the Leader?**_

I couldn't keep the scowl off of my face as I scanned the article. It wasn't news honestly. Everyone knew about the war that was starting but… it was sick. Everything about it was sick.

The leader was killing muggleborns, halfbloods, even muggles claiming that they were impure. His followers were growing and to be honest, it worried me. I was a pureblood myself but there were so many people that I knew… people like Lily who could be in trouble.

"Werner." I looked up to see Sirius sit down across from me, a large grin on his face. Nervously I looked back down at my paper, trying to ignore him.

I had been dating James for about a month now but I still wasn't used to his friends, well I wasn't used to Sirius. Remus and I got along well, both of us being bookworms kind of helped with that. Peter exchanged a few words with me but Sirius… Sirius frightened me. I honestly avoided talking to him as much as possible and though James tried to ask me about it, I avoided the topic. He probably would laugh if he realized that I was scared of his best friend. What kind of Gryffindor was I?

"Prongs wants you to wear this… he'll be down in a few but he wanted you to have it asap."

He pulled the newspaper out of my hands and replaced it with fabric. I couldn't stop the blush that was on my face when I realized what it was. His quidditch jersey. I wasn't sure why it made me so flustered but… it did. Just having POTTER printed on my back felt like a huge step. We hadn't even kissed yet and he wanted me to wear his clothes?

I honestly had completely forgot about the Quidditch game. It was the first one of the season, Gryffindor against Slytherin and James had been ranting about it for the past week. Dating the Quidditch captain did have its perks… such as seeing him running around shirtless but it also had its drawbacks. He was obsessing over it and while I got why he was so worried… it didn't seem like a big enough deal to me. So I blocked it out…

Now that was probably why I had forgotten about the match…

"You're over thinking it love." I flinched as Sirius broke my thoughts and I looked over at him, his grey eyes meeting my own. He frowned slightly, tilting his head to the side much like a dog.

"Why do you avoid me?" Sirius asked and I felt my chest tighten at this question.

He couldn't have noticed… he couldn't know. I turned beet red at this and then looked back down at the red and gold jersey. This couldn't be happening to me.

"Werner you're doing it again." He almost sang and with a sigh I looked back up at him. He grinned at this and patted me on the head before climbing to his feet. "At least you're looking at me now. By next week I'll have you talking to me without blushing."

With that Sirius climbed back up the portrait hole leaving me stunned. I looked back down at my hands and couldn't help but to grin. Maybe hanging out with the marauders wasn't going to be as bad as I thought…

Though I really did miss Lily. We hadn't spoken since our fight and it hurt. I missed her a lot and though I wanted to apologize, I wanted to say that it was all my fault, I couldn't. Something was holding me back and I couldn't admit to being wrong when I honestly didn't believe that I was. It tore me up and I could tell that Marlene and Alice were getting frustrated as well. They didn't say anything but it was easy to tell with all of the looks that they shot me and how much quieter the dorm room had gotten.

And as much as I loved hanging out with the marauders… I wanted my best friends back…

"Are you going to the match?" Marlene asked me as I entered the dorm room and I grinned at the girl and showed her the jersey in my hands.

"James insists."

Though Marlene was on the team, I usually wouldn't show up to the practices and even more rarely, the games. Quidditch was just something that didn't fully interest me. As awful as that sounded. Yeah- kill me now- I get it. Sports were just never anything that interested me. Muggle sports were the same way if I was going to be honest.

Marlene let out a squeal at this and pulled me into a hug. I awkwardly squirmed out of it then rolled my eyes at the girl.

"I expect to be able to hear you cheering." She said and left the room before I could even respond. How was she going to hear me cheering when she was that high up in the air… I couldn't help but to laugh and shake my head at how ridiculous she was.

Ignoring Lily and the rest of the girls I quickly changed out of my pajamas and threw on a pair of jeans and a longsleeve shirt with James' jersey on top. I was expecting it to be freezing out so I threw a scarf on over that and grabbed a pair of my gloves. Giving myself a check in the mirror I hesitated for a moment before grabbing my newest book. Just in case I got that bored.

"There's my raven haired beauty." James wrapped his arm around my shoulder the moment I got down and I couldn't stop the smile that formed on my face as he said that.

I grinned at the boy and though I wanted to burry my face into his shoulder and ignore the compliment I knew that I couldn't. Someone made a retching sound and I looked up to see Sirius was pretending to throw up while Remus laughed at the boy.

Laughing as well I shook my head at how ridiculous he was being. Sirius' eyes met my own and his grey eyes sparkled. He winked at me before straightening up and suggesting that we go get breakfast before the big game.

"You look lovely in my clothes." James whispered in my ear as we climbed out of the portrait hole, arm in arm and I went bright red at this.

"James!" I squeaked and smacked him on his arm. He threw his head back laughing at my embarrassment and pulled me closer, giving me a tight hug.

"Oh shush love. It's just the truth. Anyways why do you have this?!" He yanked the book out of my hand before I could react and rose an eyebrow as he read the cover. "Alice in Wonderland? Isn't this some muggle kids book?"

I frowned at this and struggled to get the book back from him. "Just because it's a kids book that doesn't mean that I can't read it. Anyways I'm sure that most kids wouldn't understand it."

James pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and then nodded. As if it didn't matter he threw the book at me and then turned to Remus and began to rant about something or another.

Sirius caught my eye once again and he quirked an eyebrow. I wiped the frown off of my face and gave him a partial smile, looking back down at the book in my hand.

I really liked James. I honestly did but something that drove me nuts was the fact that he had no respect for reading… which was my life. He would steal the book from me or just do something that would irritate me and then didn't even care. I was being over dramatic about it but I honestly wished that he would understand that though we were dating, I still wanted some time to do things that I wanted to. Not just hang out with his friends all day and watch his quidditch practices sitting outside alone… it was just tiring to do everything full time…

"Ya'll right there love?"

James nudged me with his shoulder finally realizing that I had gone silent and I nodded up at him with a grin plastered on my face. He ran a hand through his hair looking a bit nervous and I gave him a small hug, telling him that it'd be fine.

* * *

The game lasted about four hours. Four very miserable hours. It was Gryffindor against Slytherin so of course we all expected it to be long but honestly not four hours long. Both teams were really good and so many penalties were given. We were up 10 points when Marlene caught the snitch and if I were being honest… I wasn't even paying attention.

My attention was on my book. I only really looked up when the crowd got extremely rowdy. Everyone was on their feet and Remus and Peter were screaming. Before I could comprehend what was happening Remus had grabbed my arm and rushed me down with the rest of the Gryffindors who were all greating the team. I heard someone shout about a party in the Common Room and while everyone started to head back to the castle, we finally caught up to James and Sirius.

I gave them both a hug saying that they did brilliantly and soon enough the five of us were heading back to the common room. My hand in James' sweaty one.

I wasn't really complaining but… okay he was kind of gross and sticky but he was happy and so I brushed that off.

First Quidditch game of the year was a success.

As we approached the Fat Lady James and I slowly came to a stop and he let the rest of the group walk in front of us, all of them looking curious as they entered the common room. I looked after them and smiled as the portrait shut, even with that I could hear the cheering and the booming of the music. Thank Merlin it was a Saturday.

I looked back at James who was grinning madly though look almost as nervous as he did before the match. I tightened my grip on his hand and tilted my head to the side. With a side he leaned up against the wall and gave me a small smile.

"I was wondering… when it would be okay to kiss you." I couldn't stop the look of confusion that clouded my face as the words slipped from his mouth.

He had just...asked when he could kiss me? I'm- wait what?

"I'm sorry?" I bit the end of my thumb, chewing on the skin nervously as he ran a hand through his hair. What type of question was that honestly?

"I want to know when it is acceptable to kiss you. I really just don't want to rush things with you and just…"

Now before you think that I grabbed him by the shirt, pulled him close and smashed my lips against his own, know that I didn't.

Kissing was something that I didn't quite understand. I mean it gave people pleasure and it was sweet but I wasn't sure why it gave people pleasure. All you were doing was pressing two parts of your face together and I didn't understand it. I'm not saying that I didn't like kissing- I didn't mind kissing at all.

Instead of just kissing him I rose an eyebrow at him and crossed my arms.

"You could kiss me whenever you want James… I'm not going to freak out on you… I'm not Lily."

Another downside of dating James Potter… He was a sweet guy but because of years of rejection… he became so hesitant. So hesitant that he questioned every little thing and I felt like I was waiting for him. I felt a lot of the times like we were just two friends who were closer than normal. Nothing else and it hurt sometimes.

He muttered something underneath his breath and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What was that?" I challenged feeling bolder than I normally did. I swear hanging out with the marauders wasn't good for my personality

"I said at least then I would know how you'd react." He mumbled and I took a small step back from him. That was a joke right?

"You wished-"

"You never seem to respond with anything other than smiles and a nod half the time and I don't know what you're thinking ever and it's kind of frustrating." he whispered the last part and I couldn't help but to feel hurt by his words. He was… upset that I didn't emote as much as he did.

"I'm sorry that I don't freak out as much as Lily does." I whispered and turned away from him. He grabbed my arm but I just shook my head, feeling my eyes starting to burn. I couldn't cry in front of him.

"That's not-"

"James just let me go think." I muttered and pulled away from him.

I slipped into the common room unnoticed, everyone was probably too drunk. The moment I pulled my curtains shut and collapsed onto my bed, laying eagle spread and staring at the ceiling.

Despite my frustrations with James… I didn't want to lose him as well as the rest of the marauders. Anyways I knew that something like this would happen eventually… I just didn't expect it to be so soon. We'd just have to work through it.


End file.
